Snapshot: The all-new model will be based on Volvo’s Compact Modular Architecture (CMA) for smaller cars, and will be available for sale in 2019.

Volvo, the Swedish luxury automaker, has announced that it would build its first fully electric car in China. At the sidelines of 2017 Auto Shanghai, the company made this announcement. The all-new model will be based on Volvo’s Compact Modular Architecture (CMA) for smaller cars, and will be available for sale in 2019 and exported globally from China. Volvo has a commitment to sell a total of 1m electrified scars – including fully electric cars and hybrids – by 2025. It is developing a fully electric car on its Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) as well.

“Volvo Cars fully supports the Chinese government’s call for cleaner air as outlined in the latest five-year plan. It is fully in-line with our own core values of environmental care, quality and safety,” said Håkan Samuelsson, chief executive of Volvo Cars. “We believe that electrification is the answer to sustainable mobility.” China is the world’s largest sales market for electrified cars, and has ambitious targets to expand sales of fully electric and hybrid cars in order to address congestion and air-quality issues in its cities. Volvo has three manufacturing facilities in China: in Daqing, which makes its 90 series cars; Chengdu, which makes its 60 series cars; and Luqiao, which will make its 40 series cars.

The Swedish company also plans to offer plug-in hybrid versions of every model. The decision to make its first electric car in China highlights the central role China will play in Volvo’s electrified future and underlines China’s growing sophistication as a manufacturing centre for the automotive industry. Meanwhile, Volvo Auto India recently debuted the Polestar sub-brand in the Indian market by introducing the high-performance S60 Polestar. The sedan was priced at Rs. 52.50 Lakhs (Ex. Showroom, Delhi). The company is also mulling over the idea of opening a manufacturing facility in India for local production of its models to price them aggressively like its rivals Mercedes Benz, BMW, Audi and Jaguar Land Rover.